Symposia

Opportunity From Necessity: Innovative Policies and Practices in Ohio During Fiscal Challenges

October 14-15, 2010 | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Barrister Club

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Symposium Overview | Schedule | Faculty | Registration

Faculty

Sarah Biehl, Staff Attorney, Ohio Poverty Law Center. An Ohio native, Sarah Biehl received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Ohio State University and clerked for Chief Judge James G. Carr of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio before being awarded a Skadden Fellowship with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. While in Chicago, Sarah designed and operated a legal clinic inside a public charter high school on the west side of the city and developed a strong commitment to community-based lawyering as a means of working for systems change. Sarah moved back to Ohio in early 2008 to focus on systemic advocacy on education law issues as a staff attorney at the Ohio Poverty Law Center. Sarah is deeply committed to empowering low-income children and their families and has represented children and their parents in a variety of areas. Sarah has done presentations on special education law and students’ rights, published articles on school discipline and safe haven laws, and chairs the statewide task force in Ohio on education law issues. Sarah is also a core group member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a national coalition of advocates who aim to challenge the systemic problem of pushout in the nation's schools.

Stacy Blair, School Liaison, Delaware County Court of Common PLeas, Juvenile & Probate Divisions. Stacy Blair graduated from West Branch High School in Beloit, Ohio in 1991.  She attended The Ohio State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology in 1997.  She finished her Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2002.  She completed at two-year internship with the Delaware County Juvenile Court, and began working as the TEAM Mentoring Coordinator in 2001.  In 2002 she began working as an Intake/Diversion Officer, and in 2007 she took the position of School Liaison.  Stacy works with the Delaware City School District and the Delaware Area Career Center.  She is married and has four children.

The Honorable Kim A. Browne, Lead Juvenile Judge, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division. Judge Browne has been a Judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division since January of 2002. She was recently elected the court's Lead Juvenile Judge and has served as the Co-Chair of the Franklin County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee (with City Safety Director Mitchell Brown) since March 2009. Additionally, since January of 2001, Judge Browne has served as an Adjunct Professor for Ohio Dominican University (ODU). At ODU, she teaches the Legal Environment of Business, Human Resources Management and Business Law for the Master, Bachelor of Science, and Associate degree programs.

Preceding her 2002 appointment to the bench, Judge Browne served as an Associate Attorney with the law firm of Maguire & Schneider, LLP. Immediately prior, Judge Browne served as the Director of Legal Operations for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC). During her six-year tenure with BWC, she also served as the Bureau's Director of Employee and Labor Relations and as a State Workplace Mediator.

During her tenure on the bench, Judge Browne has created programs directed at educating and inspiring youth to meet and/or exceed their own ambitions, such as the Mini-Moot Court Competition for middle and high school-age children and the All Rize College Tour for at-risk youth. Judge Browne overseas the Judicial Extern program in collaboration with The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and Capital University College of Law as well as, Co-Chairs the Court's Bring Your Child to Work Day Program, and organizations dedicated to the development and advocacy of children and women are her passion. As such, Kim Browne has held various leadership and volunteer positions with ArtSafe, Lighthouse Project, Directions for Youth, Community Collaboration Board, WomenIN and Women-to-Women Business Networking/Mentoring Program. Previously, Judge Browne served on the Executive Committee of the Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges and as a member of the Ohio Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee.

A 1993 graduate of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Judge Browne resides in the Gahanna/New Albany area with her husband Steven and their two daughters, Rachel and Regan. MSG Steven Browne recently returned from Kuwait; he now serves with the Ohio Army National Guard's 174th Air Defense Artillery.

Carla Carpenter, Associate Director, National Center for Adoption Law & Policy. Carla Carpenter is a Licensed Social Worker. Her work at the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy (NCALP) has focused on programmatic and systemic issues impacting children and families, particularly in the area of child welfare. Before coming to NCALP, Ms. Carpenter spent eight years providing case management, advocacy, counseling, curriculum development, education, and prevention services for children and families.

For the past six years, Ms. Carpenter has served as an administrator with NCALP. Her responsibilities with NCALP have included child welfare research, with a particular emphasis on Differential Response Systems, and coordination of several of the Center’s educational and programmatic initiatives related to adoption and child permanency issues.

Ms. Carpenter holds a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. She is also an alumna of Capital University where she earned dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degrees, Summa Cum Laude.

David Arthur Colley, Esq. Mr. Colley is a private practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, whose practice has focused on children’s issues, including representation of children, parents, foster parents, and adoptive parents in civil, criminal, and juvenile court proceedings. Mr. Colley has served as counsel to public and private child care agencies and has conducted numerous trainings of judges, lawyers, and child welfare professionals on a range of juvenile matters. He is the author of child welfare training curricula used in Ohio and other states.

Jonathan E. Coughlan, Disciplinary Counsel, Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Jonathan Coughlan has been Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio since 1997. Mr. Coughlan lectures on attorney and judicial ethics for the Judicial College of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the OSBA-CLE Institute and local bar associations. He serves as an instructor at the National College of District Attorneys in South Carolina and is an Adjunct Professor at Ohio State Law School where he teaches Professional Responsibility. Mr. Coughlan is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, the National Organization of Bar Counsel and is on the board of directors of the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel. After graduating from Case Western Reserve University Law School in 1978, he was a public defender in Cleveland, worked in private practice in New Hampshire and spent ten years as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office in Buffalo, NY.

Dodie Davenport, Mediator, Delaware County Common Please Court, Juvenile & Probate Divisions. Dodie has worked at the Delaware County Juvenile & Probate Court for twelve years, ten of those twelve years as a CSEA Deputy Clerk and the last two years in her current position, as Court Mediator. In addition to being a trained mediator, she is currently a part-time student at Columbus State Community College, were she is working toward an Associate of Science Degree.

The Delaware County Juvenile/Probate Mediation Program anticipates mediation growing in all areas for the upcoming 2011-2012 year. The success of the program can be contributed to the support of Judge Kenneth J. Spicer, the magistrates, court staff, and a dedicated mediation team that works collaboratively with all sectors of the court to ensure the best outcome for Delaware County residents and their families.

Dennis Ehrie, Administrative Director, The Ohio State University Hospitals. Mr. Ehrie received his B.S. in Education from The Ohio State University in 1967. Between 1967 and 1970, he was a teacher and coach in the Madison County School System. He then attended Capital University Law School and was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1976. In addition to being admitted to the practice of law in Ohio, Mr. Ehrie is admitted to practice in California, before the United States Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and all the Federal District Courts in Ohio and California. For the greater part of his legal career Mr. Ehrie’s practice involved litigation. From 1985-1989, he served as general counsel for a corporation in California. From 1989 to 1991, he was of counsel for Williams & Shedd in Sacramento, California, conducting litigation in federal court.

For the last 31 years, Mr. Ehrie has been deeply involved in issues surrounding alcoholism, drug addiction, and other forms of chemical dependency. He has been particularly interested in how addiction impacts professionals. In 1979, Mr. Ehrie was one of the founding members of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Lawyer’s Assistance Committee. While in private practice, he made extensive use of the provisions in the Ohio Revised Code making treatment in lieu of conviction an option for qualified offenders. In 1992, Mr. Ehrie authored Treatment in Lieu of Conviction. This guide for lawyers has been the basis of several seminars where the basics of providing treatment have been taught. In recent years Mr. Ehrie has developed presentations for lay audiences on the physiology of addiction.

In 1992, he began the transition from attorney to healthcare administrator. In 1995, he became the Executive Director of Talbot Hall at Park Medical Center, which has been acquired by The Ohio State University Medical Center. Mr. Ehrie has developed some 30 drug free workplace programs during the last 15 years and served on the team that revitalized Talbot Hall. Mr. Ehrie also taught and worked in the area of ethics and medical ethics, serving as the Chairman of the Park Medical Center Ethics Committee from 1997 to 1999.

In 1999, Mr. Ehrie became the Director of Program Development and Strategic Planning for The Ohio State University/Harding Behavioral Healthcare and Medicine System within The Ohio State University Medical Center. In 2000, Mr. Ehrie was named Director of Operations for the Department of Addiction Medicine at The Ohio State University Hospital East. As such, Mr. Ehrie is the senior administrator for addiction medicine and for The Ohio State University’s Summer Institute of Addiction Studies. In 2001, Mr. Ehrie had all the administrative responsibilities for behavioral health at University Hospital East added to his duties. In 2002, he was named to serve on the Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Service Governing Council for The American Hospital Association. In 2003, Mr. Ehrie was named Administrative Director at University Hospital East, where he assumed expanded administrative responsibility over hospital wide operations and joined the Senior Administrative Team for the hospital. In addition, he serves as Associate Legal Counsel for University Hospital East. In 2005, Mr. Ehrie was named to serve as liaison to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Mr. Ehrie makes 20-25 presentations annually, speaking to professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and healthcare administrators. He lives in Grove City, Ohio with his yellow Labrador Retriever, Beau.

Katherine Hunt Federle, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Law & Policy Studies and the Justice for Children Project, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law. Professor Katherine Hunt Federle received her B.A. in History from Pomona College in 1980, her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in 1983, and her LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center in 1986. She began her legal career as a public defender in the state of Washington. She then received a prestigious E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship from Georgetown University Law Center, where she supervised third-year law students in the Juvenile Justice Clinic and represented children and adults in both the D.C. court system and the federal courts.

Professor Federle began teaching in 1986 at the University of Hawaii School of Law, where she held a dual appointment as a researcher at the Center for Youth Research. She subsequently joined the faculty at Tulane Law School in 1990 where she taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Juvenile Law. Professor Federle was selected by the 1996 graduating class to receive the Felix Frankfurter Distinguished Teaching Award. Professor Federle has been especially active in the field of juvenile law. She is admitted to practice in Ohio, Washington, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia, and draws on her extensive experience as a lawyer for children in her teaching and writing. Professor Federle has given Congressional briefings on law-related education and child witnesses, has spoken and presented papers at conferences across the country and around the world on issues pertaining to children's rights and criminal law, and has written numerous articles on the rights of children.

She serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Children's Rights, the Ohio State Bar Association Juvenile Justice Committee, and the Juvenile Justice Planning Community Initiative of the Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court. Professor Federle also serves as a member of the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Children Rights Committee Working Group. She also is a past chair of the American Bar Association Family Law Section's Committee on Juvenile Law and the Needs of Children. While serving as chair, Professor Federle helped draft the ABA's Standards for the Representation of Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases. She also serves as the faculty advisor to a law student organization, Advocates for Children. She has been recognized for her work with the American Bar Association Family Law Section, the Children’s Rights Committee of the American Bar Association Litigation Section, and the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Professor Federle teaches Criminal Law, Family Law, Children and the Law, Advanced Issues in the Law of Foster Care, and Issues in Adoption Law, at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, and is the Director of the Justice for Children Project, an interdisciplinary educational and research project housed in the Moritz College of Law. Professor Federle also is the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

The Honorable David A. Hejmanowski, Magistrate, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile & Probate Divisions. Magistrate Hejmanowski has been a juvenile and probate court magistrate for Delaware County since January of 2003. Prior to this, he served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Delaware County, handling more than 400 felony cases. He graduated as a Public Service Fellow from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1999 where he also received the Joseph M. Harter Memorial Award. He received his B.S. in political science from Hiram College in 1996. He was appointed in 2005 by Chief Justice Moyer to the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Interpreter Services. He is the Attorney Coordinator for the Delaware County Interfaith Legal Services Clinic and a member and past secretary of the Ohio State Bar Association Juvenile Justice Committee. He is a frequent presenter for the Ohio Judicial College. Magistrate Hejmanowski, his wife Ashley, and their two children, Catherine and Nicholas, reside in Delaware.

Jacob A.H. Kronenberg, Esq. Kronenberg & Belovich Law, LLC. Jacob Kronenberg is a private practitioner who specializes in juvenile and family law cases. He is a Certified Specialist in Family Relations Law and a Fellow and Certified Arbitrator with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. A 1974 graduate of George Washington University Law School, Mr. Kronenberg has made numerous presentations to various organizations including the Ohio Family Law Institute, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cuyahoga County Bar Association, the Ohio CLE Institute, and the Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges. He also served as an adjunct lecturer in law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

The Honorable Stephen D. Michael, Judge, Jackson County Probate-Juvenile Court. Judge Michael is the Probate and Juvenile Judge in Jackson County. After graduating from Ohio Northern University Petit College of Law, he spent eleven years in private practice in Jackson County Ohio before his electing to the bench in 1991. Judge Michael is now serving his fourth term on the bench. He is a member of various organizations, including the Ohio State Bar Association, the Jackson County Bar Association, the Ohio Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Hocking Valley Community Residential Treatment Center Executive and Program Committees, the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Victims of Crime Task Force, and the Ohio Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Committee to the Governor’s Office of criminal Justice. He is President of the Oak Hill Recreation Committee, a trustee of the Ohio Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, a member of the Board of Directors of Jackson County Junior Achievement, and a member of the Jackson County Dental Task Force. Judge Michael recently completed his term as President of the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges (2009-2010).

Cecilia Monahan, School Liaison, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile & Probate Divisions. Cecelia Monahan attended St. Paul High School and graduated in 2000.  She studied Criminal Justice at Bowling Green State University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in August 2005.  After finishing an internship with the Delaware County Juvenile Court, she began working as an Intake/Diversion Officer, a position she held until August of 2007.  At that time she started working as the School Liaison, servicing Big Walnut, Buckeye Valley, and Olentangy local school districts.  Cecelia is married and has one son. 

Sabrina Morris, PCC-S,MSEd, Director, Tri-County Mental Health & Counseling Services. Ms. Morris is the director and founder of the Tri-County Mental Health & Counseling Services’ Jackson, Ohio Clinic. The clinic provides comprehensive behavioral healthcare to children, adolescents, and their families. Ms. Morris has dedicated herself to working in the community mental health field for over 20 years. She has acknowledged educational and professional competencies in serving a comprehensive array of consumers, such as, family systems, chemically-dependent, dual-diagnosed, GLBT, and forensic populations. Overall, her focus has been working within Appalachian cultures. Ms. Morris takes an integral, strength-based approach emphasizing socio-cultural, neuro-biological, and developmental influences while considering cognitive, behavioral, and affective components.

Ms. Morris has designed, implemented, and evaluated the school-based Crisis Responding Program named Teen Talk, within the three school districts in Jackson County, OH. The programs’ objectives are to provide comprehensive mental health assessments and to link students to needed behavioral healthcare services while diverting severely mentally ill children and adolescents away from the Juvenile Justice System. Since the initial inception of the first Teen Talk program, many juveniles have been successfully diverted from receiving charges as well as reducing the rate of recidivism. Due to the success of the Teen Talk Programs, Ms. Morris is working with local school districts, the juvenile courts, and families to bring Kid Talk into the elementary schools.

Paul Skendelas, Appellate Public Defender, Franklin County Public Defender. Paul Skendelas is a 1981 graduate of the Moritz College of Law. He has been with the Franklin County Public Defender office since 1980, and has been in the appellate division of that office for the past 21 years. During this time, he has handled over 850 appeals in state and federal courts. He has been a frequent contributor to conferences and symposia on criminal, juvenile, and appellate issues for numerous organizations, including the Ohio CLE Institute, the Ohio Public Defender Advocacy Institute, the Columbus Bar Association, and the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He co-presented a paper with Professor Federle at an international conference on “Law, Mind, and Brain” held at the University College London on the implications of brain development research on concepts of competency, culpability, and punishment of youthful offenders. He is the past amicus chair for the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is a past president of that organization. He is currently the chair of the Juvenile Law Section of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Denise St. Clair, Executive Director, National Center for Adoption Law & Policy. Denise St. Clair has over 20 years of legal experience, first as an employment law attorney in private practice with a major law firm in Louisville, Kentucky and, for the past eight years, with the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy (NCALP) at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, where she serves as Executive Director.

Her practice experience included counseling clients on compliance with state and federal anti-discrimination and civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, and litigating lawsuits arising under those laws.

As NCALP’s Executive Director, Ms. St. Clair oversees the Center’s research-based, educational and programmatic projects and initiatives, which encompass all aspects of the law and policies governing adoption and child permanency issues. She is also a frequent presenter and trainer on child welfare issues for a wide variety of audiences.

Ms. St. Clair holds a JD degree from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review and a member of the Brandeis Honor Society.

Faith Walzak, Mediation Coordinator, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile & Probate Divisions. Faith Walzak is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and after leaving the corporate world joined Delaware County Probate/Juvenile Court, to become the Mediation Coordinator.

The program has expanded to include the following types of mediations: Probate mediation, Domestic relations mediation, Juvenile mediation, Victim mediation, Domestic Violence, Parenting and visitation mediation, Truancy mediation, and Child Protection Mediation.